Page 51 of Take Me Slowly: part 2
"That's sweet of you, but I'm still digesting," I said. "What's the time?"
"About two o'clock in the morning." It was Connor who answered.
"You have to be at work in a few hours," I said. I really had disrupted everything, hadn't I?
"We'll be fine," he said. "You're what's important right now."
"That's sweet of you," I said.
Josiah smirked.
Connor caught the expression on his face and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Put it on the calendar. Connor Ferguson was sweet. First and last time ever."
"You've been sweet before," Riley said. "I bet you anything you'll be sweet again."
"If you keep pointing it out, I'll make it my life's work never to be sweet," Connor said.
We all laughed at that, none of us believing a word of it. Like it or not, he was who he was.
I closed my eyes again and listened to the guys go on about this and, only hearing half of it. I sipped my tea until it was done and Josiah took the cup out of my hand.
"Are you ready to get out of the bath yet?" he asked.
"I probably should, before I start to get wrinkly," I said with some reluctance. It was comfortable in there, but the water has started to cool and I was getting sleepy again. I needed to get back to sleep and so did they.
"We don't mind if you get wrinkles," Riley said. But he kissed the top of my wet head and stood to get a towel to wrap around me after the others helped me out.
"Can you stand okay?" Connor asked, his brow wrinkled adorably with worry.
"I'm fine," I said. "If I'm not, I have four of you to catch me."
"Yes, you do," Riley said, towelling me dry quickly before wrapping the towel around my hair. He barely finished doing that before he was scooping me up in his arms and carrying me back to bed. "You smell amazing. Like lavender and vanilla. Ironic, since you're anything but vanilla."
I stifled a yawn with my fist. "I feel nice and clean and… Relaxed." The ache was a lot duller now, tolerable. Just.
"We should have fucked you gentler," Josiah said with regret.
"It was perfect," I assured him. "If it wasn't, I would have said so."
Okay, riding their laps the way I had was probably not the best idea. At the time, I was enjoying myself. Living in the moment. Now I was paying for it.
Still, I couldn't bring myself to feel too badly about it. If I did, it might stop me from living life, and fucking, the way I wanted to. No, I wasn't going to let this set me back.
"You fucking better," Connor said. "I'm not having you in pain because you're too stubborn to speak up. When you feel better, I'm going to smack your ass as a reminder."
Yes, please.
He narrowed his eyes, but he'd love it as much as I would.
I knew from experience, the next couple of days were going to be uncomfortable, but hopefully I was passed the worst of it. This time. Next time, I might be alone. Sure, Brooks was living here now, but he'd be working a lot of late nights at the pub.
As if he read my mind, Connor said, "You should move in with us. Make sure someone is always around if you need anything."
"What he said," Riley agreed.
Josiah looked as though he was thinking along the same lines, but up at his cottage, rather than here in town. He might always feel out of place here compared to up there. Not surprising, given everything that happened in the last twenty years. I didn't expect him to give up everything for me. That whole conversation was for later.
One way or another, we'd figure things out.
